Money Talks: Monetary Incentives and Financial Knowledge in Experimental Survey

Last registered on November 03, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Money Talks: Monetary Incentives and Financial Knowledge in Experimental Survey
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017155
Initial registration date
October 31, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
November 03, 2025, 10:07 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Italy
Region
Lazio

Primary Investigator

Name
Gianmarco De Santis
Affiliation
Sapienza University of Rome
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-11-27
End date
2026-03-31
Keywords
Behavior, Finance & Microfinance, Lab
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
Financial literacy is increasingly recognized as a key competence for young people navigating complex economic environments. While numerous studies have shown that educational interventions can enhance students’ financial knowledge and behaviour, evidence on the role of monetary incentives in strengthening such outcomes remains limited and mixed. This study investigates whether providing monetary rewards improves students’ financial literacy performance compared to a standard, non-incentivized setting. We conducted a series of controlled experimental sessions at the CESARE Experimental Economics Laboratory at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, involving a total of 300 participants. Subjects were randomly assigned to incentivized and non-incentivized treatments and completed a set of decision-making tasks and survey modules measuring financial understanding, risk preferences, and attitudes toward ambiguity. Our analysis examines how incentives affect information acquisition, engagement, and learning outcomes. Preliminary evidence suggests that monetary rewards can enhance effort and performance in financial tasks, although the magnitude of these effects depends on individual characteristics and task complexity. The results contribute to the growing literature on behavioural mechanisms in financial education, highlighting the importance of incentive design in promoting effective and lasting financial literacy gains.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
De Santis, Gianmarco. 2025. "Money Talks: Monetary Incentives and Financial Knowledge in Experimental Survey." AEA RCT Registry. November 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17155-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Participants are randomly assigned to one of two treatments:

Non-incentivized baseline: subjects complete all financial literacy tasks with no monetary rewards beyond a fixed show-up fee.

Incentivized treatment: subjects perform the same tasks but receive additional monetary rewards based on task performance.
Intervention Start Date
2024-11-27
Intervention End Date
2026-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Primary outcomes include performance on financial literacy tasks, effort levels, and patterns of information acquisition
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary measures include reported financial attitudes, risk preferences, and demographic correlates of performance
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment investigates whether the introduction of monetary incentives affects students’ financial literacy outcomes compared to a non-incentivized setting. We employ a between-subjects experimental design with two main treatments: (1) a non-incentivized baseline, in which participants complete all financial literacy tasks without any monetary rewards beyond a fixed show-up fee; and (2) an incentivized treatment, in which participants receive monetary rewards linked to their performance in the same tasks.

All sessions are conducted at the CESARE Experimental Economics Laboratory at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome. Participants are university students recruited through the Online Recruitment System for Economic Experiments (ORSEE). Participation is voluntary, and anonymity of choices is guaranteed. Each participant receives a fixed €5 show-up fee, and those assigned to the incentivized treatment can earn additional payments based on task outcomes.

The experimental protocol consists of three main parts:

Financial decision-making tasks designed to measure financial knowledge, numeracy, and risk/ambiguity preferences;

Incentive manipulation, where participants either receive or do not receive performance-based monetary rewards;

Post-experimental survey, collecting demographic information, self-assessed financial competence, and attitudinal variables.

The design allows comparison of behavioural patterns, effort levels, and learning outcomes across treatments. The resulting dataset includes individual-level decisions, task performance, and survey responses to identify how incentives influence engagement, information acquisition, and financial literacy performance.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Random assignment to treatments is implemented by the experimental software at the start of each session
Randomization Unit
Individual level
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
15 experimental sessions
Sample size: planned number of observations
300 university students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Incentivized treatment: 8 clusters (sessions) × ~20 participants ≈ 160 participants

Non-incentivized treatment: 7 clusters (sessions) × ~20 participants ≈ 140 participants
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Comitato per la Ricerca della Luiss Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli
IRB Approval Date
2025-04-04
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan